Tyler Pratt

No more leaks: the full Austin City Limits Music Festival lineup is out. 

Sure, British rock band Muse had accidentally confirmed their performance during an interview with a Montreal radio station. Over the weekend other band names like Portugal. The Man, Neko Case and D’Angelo appeared on beer coozies and Topo Chico bottle caps around town. And last week cheeky ads were placed in the Austin Chronicle (“For a little Fun. Call 555-ACL-FEST”).  But just after midnight this morning, the full lineup was finally unveiled.

“We’re at a festival, and what is more beautiful than watching someone try?” squeaked Maria Bamford on Thursday night at Austin’s Stateside Theater. The comedian had just attempted a new bit that didn’t quite pay off the way she planned. But she was able to pull it off, thanks to an admission of her own failure and a happy, comedy-loving audience.

Bamford isn’t the only comic trying out new material in Austin: she’s one of a 109 stand-up comedians performing at this year’s Moontower Comedy and Oddity Festival (and one of the more recognizable faces at this year’s festival, either for her series of off-kilter Target commercials or her famously strange on-stage antics and voices). 

The Austin Police Chief says an incident this week in which police officers fatally shot a man was not a mental health call.

Chief Art Acevedo is responding to the Texas Civil Rights Project calling for the city to appoint an independent professional consultant to help police handle incidents involving people with mental illness.

Here’s how Chief Acevedo characterizes this week’s incident, in which a man was shot after pointing a shotgun at APD officers.

“It was not a mental health call," Acevedo said. "It was a public safety threat call, where the, the absolute safety of our residents was at risk. The Austin Police Department received information that the decedent in that case was suicidal and homicidal and threatening to hurt others.”

The Texas Civil Rights Project is calling for more involvement from the Austin Police Monitor’s Office in assessing calls involving use of force.

The U.S. Supreme Court continues its examination of same-sex marriage today, taking up arguments in one part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Yesterday, as the court took a look at Proposition 8 – the constitutional ban on gay marriage in California– two rallies hit the Texas State Capitol: one to promote traditional values and another to support same-sex marriage.

As the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments today over same-sex marriage, here in Austin, people on both sides of the issues surrounding the cases will gather at the Capitol. 

Governor Rick Perry is expected to be the featured speaker at the "Faith and Family" rally in support of so-called "traditional values."

SXSW Gaming Expo kicked off today, with thousands of people filling the Palmer Events Center. From computer tech to board games, the expo has companies from all over country unveiling their new demos.

"The Gaming Expo is a great opportunity for people who had been reading about games or had seen them online, to actually come in and try them out," says Nintendo of America's Kit Ellis. Nintendo is premiering more than 10 video games.

The red carpet was out, a fancy dinner was served, Turk Pipkin shot ping pong balls out of his mouth... Last night was just another weird night in Austin—only with a lot more famous faces than usual.

The 13th Annual Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards brought out hundreds of film lovers and some of Hollywood’s biggest stars—many with deep Texas roots.

The annual event raises money for the Austin Film Society. The ceremony honors Texans who have achieved success in the film industry.

The Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a new exhibit — "Through the Eyes of Texas: Masterworks from Alumni Collections". The exhibit features almost 200 pieces of art from the private collections of UT alumni.

The exhibit features work that spans the globe and human history.

Update: Austin appears to have survived its first weekend without single-use plastic bags. But, judging from Twitter, many are still getting used to the change. 

Apparently there are still people in ATX who don't know about the bag ban. Lots of people carrying out groceries minus any bag.

— Pam Vaught (@psvaught) March 2, 2013

Update: Travis County Parks reversed its decision to change boating rules at Hippie Hollow on Lake Travis at a public meeting last night.

In fact, after about a week of tension between Travis County Parks and people who frequent Hippie Hollow, the meeting ended with laughter and applause.

“This is a great example of a grass roots movement. Where people are trying to reach out the administrators who work in their government and the guys come to the table and listen to what the folks have to say,” Friends of the Hollow member Randall Huntsinger said.

In 1836, William Barret Travis famously wrote “Victory or Death” in his appeal for more troops during the Battle of The Alamo. 177 years later, the iconic letter is returning to the Alamo for a brief exhibit later this month.

Currently, the letter is safely held at Austin’s Texas State Archives and Library Building, away from the harmful UV rays that have deteriorated its condition. 

Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell has promised a public vote on an urban rail system before he leaves office. Considering Austin was just ranked the fourth worst U.S. city for traffic congestion, that news could make for a lot of happy commuters.

Meanwhile, a California group envisions a national high-speed rail system that could transport a person from any major city to another in hours. And this vision has Austin as major train connection hub.

The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation announced a ten year commitment to turn Austin in a center of health care excellence. The foundation is donating $50 million to the University of Texas’s new medical school. It will be called the Dell Medical School.

The foundation also pledged $10 million to Austin and Travis County community health quality and access programs over the next decade.

Austin is a little more than a month away from its plastic bag ban, and some questions are still up in the air.

The Austin City Council approved the change last year, and the Single-Use Carryout Bag Ordinance stipulates that single-use bags for sacking groceries will soon be phased out – meaning Austinites must make use of reusable grocery bags. And as a precaution, shoppers should make sure their bags see more than the checkout aisle – try the laundry room.

Local comedians dressed as chickens took to the streets of downtown Austin Tuesday afternoon. They reenacted the famous Abbey Road album cover, talked to locals and garnered attention for Austin’s secnd Annual Moontower Comedy and Oddity Fest.

Jim Ritts, Executive Director of the Austin Theatre Alliance, announced the festival lineup at the Paramount Theater. This year’s headlining stand-up comedians are Dana Carvey, Amy Schumer, Bill Burr, Bill Hader & Jim Gaffigan.